How Face Detection Technology is Changing the Face of Advertising

New technology is around the corner for the advertising and media community. Marketing experts have struggled to find ways to calculate how many people are seeing ads, when, where and how long they are viewing them. But what if… we could know exactly who saw our ads, when they saw them and get their demographic?

A European outdoor advertising firm is releasing face detection technology for advertisers. OptimEyes and other software, (Kinect and EyeSee) read individual faces, recognizes if they are looking at the ad, can tell what their mood or reaction is and gives their general age and gender.

ROI (Return-On-Investment), CTR (Click-Through-Rate) and Clicks are currently available for the online market. But this data, until now, has been significantly lacking in the more traditional forms of media, like TV and OOH (Out-Of-Home.)

Another way this would be beneficial to advertisers, is in focus groups. By getting real-time reactions on commercials or boards we would be able to see exactly where people might have negative or less desirable reactions. With this technology accessible today it really makes you wonder how the industry will change in the future.